Leclerc catches Mercedes slowly showing its cards at the Australian Grand Prix

Photo: Race Pictures

09:29, 06 Mar

byKada Sarkozi

Charles Leclerc believes Mercedes is now starting to show its true pace after sandbagging during Bahrain testing.

After the Monegasque driver was the fastest in FP1 at the Australian Grand Prix, he set the fifth-quickest time during Friday's second session.

Leclerc said after the session that Mercedes is finally revealing more about its pace.

He began: "I think Mercedes is slowly showing a bit more of what they have, and we are starting to see where we are lacking compared to them. And I think they are clearly very strong, especially in terms of race pace.

"I don't know how much margin they still have in qualifying, but in the race pace, they seem to be very strong compared to us."

Speaking about Ferrari, he added: "We've got plenty of things to improve on our car. In FP2, I tried something quite aggressive, which didn't work out. I'll be back tomorrow in a more reasonable window and we'll see what it looks like."

Photo: Race Pictures

Leclerc believes Ferrari is only the fourth-fastest team

Already during pre-season testing in Bahrain, Leclerc suspected Mercedes had more left in the tank.

He continued: "The race pace, they were very, very impressive. Then in terms of qualifying pace, again, it's difficult to know how much more there is to come."

Leclerc was also impressed by Oscar Piastri's lap after the Australian topped FP2.

"It's the first race of a completely new car so lots of question marks. But on the long run I would say you have a bit of a better picture of what's going on in the performances of everybody so far.

"I hope I'm wrong and that we are much faster tomorrow but at the moment it seems to be Mercedes a step ahead and then Red Bull, McLaren and ourselves," he concluded.